Researchers have found that the brain stores detailed information of a missing hand decades after amputation, regardless of whether amputees still experience phantom hand sensations. Their study, published in eLife, revealed detailed hand information in the brains of amputees compared with people who had been born with a missing hand. The research could pave the […]

Pancreaticoduodenectomy, or the Whipple operation, is one of the most complex abdominal surgeries, and is commonly prescribed as a first line of therapy for cancer located within the pancreatic head. It remains the most effective treatment method associated with prolonged survival. The surgery involves removal of parts of the pancreas, bile duct, and small intestine, […]

Graphene, a single layer of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms, is regarded as the miracle material of the future: it is flexible, transparent, strong, can assume different electrical properties and has the highest thermal conductivity of all known materials. This makes it extremely interesting for countless possible applications. Europe has recognized this as well: The large-scale […]

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 6, 2019 — The urban African-American population has a high prevalence of hypertensive crisis and hypertensive emergencies, according to a study published online Jan. 22 in Blood Pressure. Frederick A. Waldron, M.D., from the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey, and colleagues used emergency department medical records to assess the prevalence […]

Hyperglycemia, or increased glucose, is common in patients with acute ischemic stroke and is associated with worse outcomes compared to normal glucose levels. Doctors all over the world have debated whether intensive glucose management, which requires the use of IV insulin to bring blood sugar levels down to 80-130 mg/dL, or standard glucose control using […]

Excessive weight gain in children under two years can lead to cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in teenage years including increased cholesterol, being overweight and having fat around the middle, finds new research from the University of Sydney. Obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in childhood and adolescence are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease […]

Folliculin gene defects are implicated in some forms of infertility, certain cancers and other cell growth disorders New information is unfolding on the genetic controls of an early turning point in pregnancy. As the tiny, dividing cell mass, the blastocyst, travels from the oviduct and lodges in the wall of the uterus, the cells must […]

University of Miami researchers have discovered a clue in the humble zebrafish’s digestive tract that, one day, could help people on the autism spectrum alleviate one of the most common yet least studied symptoms of their disorder: gastrointestinal distress. By replicating a mutation in zebrafish that causes a rare, autism-related genetic condition known as Phelan-McDermid […]

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 6, 2019 (American Heart Association News) — As the saleswoman took Susan Lucci’s purchases to be wrapped, the actress felt it again — a tightening in her chest that radiated around her ribcage. She’d felt something similar twice in recent weeks. Both had been mild enough to dismiss. This time, Lucci described it […]

Depression during pregnancy and following childbirth (perinatal depression) is a common and potentially severe condition. In a Journal of Neuroscience Research study, researchers examined subgroups of women followed from pregnancy to six months postpartum, for example comparing those with depression only after childbirth with those experiencing depression during pregnancy. Several characteristics were associated with depression […]

For those hoping for a new heart, liver, bone marrow or other organ, the wait for a compatible organ has always been part of the excruciating drama of transplantation. If an organ isn’t tissue-matched, that is to say, looks immunologically enough like the patient’s own tissue, the patient’s body will likely reject it. Even when […]

A clinical trial has begun to examine the safety and use of two HIV prevention tools–oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and a vaginal ring–in adolescent girls and young women in southern Africa. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the trial is designed to contribute to the delivery of safe, effective and desirable choices of HIV […]

TUESDAY, Feb. 5, 2019 — Autologous breast reconstruction after failed implant-based reconstruction seems safe and is associated with improved patient outcomes, according to a study published in the February issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Michelle Coriddi, M.D., from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues examined outcomes and quality of […]

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is rare but devastating. Due to a genetic mutation affecting hemoglobin, the component of the red blood cell that carries oxygen, a reduced amount of oxygen is supplied to vital tissues and organs. Blood cells also deform into a characteristic crescent shape and lodge into the smallest blood vessels, blocking blood […]

Hormone concentrations during early fetal development — that may affect the child’s development and increase the mother’s risk for breast and ovarian cancer years later — are significantly affected by maternal age, body mass index and race rather than lifestyle, according to a Rutgers study. The findings appear in Maternal and Child Health Journal. The […]